Are All Christians Called to Evangelize?

Here's a question I often receive from Christians. Are all Christians called to share their faith? Are all Christians called to engage in evangelism? In a word, yes. Now, before you object by saying, wait, I don't have the gift of evangelism, hear me out.

Gifts of Evangelists and the Great Commission

There are some who are gifted to serve the church as evangelists, to serve in that office as we see in Ephesians chapter four. For the purpose of equipping and building up the body of Christ, to equip them to go out and share their faith.

There are those who will be called by God to serve the Lord as full-time missionaries out on the streets, heralding the gospel around the world. But my friend, the Great Commission is for everyone. You have been commanded by God, gift or no gift, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with lost people.

Love for the Lost Is Shown by Evangelism

And if you do not share the gospel with lost people, you do not love lost people. Before you gasp, if you haven't already, we do what we care about. Think about it. Do you remember your first car? Whether it was a beat up jalopy or something really nice.

You're a teenager, you got your first car, you got your license. Did you hide that car in the closet? Did you refuse to drive it to school? Did you refuse to take your friends out on the weekends because you didn't want anyone to see your car?

No, you shared it with everybody. If you're married, what about the day you got engaged? Did you tell anybody? Did you show off your ring, ladies? Guys, did you go and tell your buddies that you popped the question and you're gonna get married?

Of course you did. You told everybody. How about your first child? Did you take pictures only to hide them in a box somewhere? Or did you show everybody your beautiful baby boy or girl? Grandma, grandpa, do you dote over your grandkids?

Do you talk about them often? Or do none of your friends know that you even have grandkids? Come on, you brag about them. You do what you care about. And you cannot say that you care about the lost if you're not doing anything to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

Practical Ways to Fulfill the Great Commission

Yes, God has commanded you. You have orders from your king to spread the gospel around the world. Does that mean you're gonna be a full-time missionary on the streets of the United States or in a foreign country?

Not necessarily. Does that mean you're gonna quit your job to serve in the office as an evangelist in your church? Not necessarily. But you can fulfill the great commission. You can do the work of an evangelist every day of your life.

Instead of going to the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk, go to the grocery store to hand out a couple of gospel tracts and pick up some milk while you're there. Make a stand for Jesus Christ in your classroom.

Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ and worry less about your grade than about the soul of your professor who is spouting atheism and blasphemous rhetoric against God. Are you more concerned about your next promotion?

Or the people who may be bound for hell with whom you're competing for that promotion? You do what you care about, my friends. And the two greatest commandments are these, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Repentance, Indifference, and Speaking the Truth in Love

Are you thankful that someone shared the gospel with you? Are you thankful that a neighbor of yours, so to speak, whether friend, family or stranger, loved you enough to share the gospel with you but yet you're gonna withhold that from the people you say you love?

Don't say you care about the lost if you're not going to do anything about it. Repent of that sin of not fulfilling the Great Commission. Repent of that depraved indifference for not speaking the truth in love to your friends, to your family, to your coworkers, your fellow students or the stranger on the street.

Do what God has commanded you to do. Share the gospel of Jesus Christ.